Mandatory 30-day furlough from work. Dad has an elk tag in New Mexico. I’ve never been west of the Mississippi or on a long solo road trip. I’ve never been to a National Park. I might never have a full month off again. Not staying home on the couch. Its time for an adventure.
Because my Mom is overly worried about me being in a big dangerous world at the tender age of 33 I have decided to create this blog so I can post photos and prove I am alive and having fun. I found a plugin called Geo Mashup that allowed me to create a map of my posts, follow along to see where I have been.
Author’s note: I am revisiting old posts from my 2016 road trip because I posted all of them from my cell phone and some of them are a bit of a mess. Main reason is to properly edit photos rather than just having what came out of my phone camera, and to include higher res photos from my mirrorless camera that never got published. Additionally some of the locations on the Geomap are wrong or often have multiple locations in a single post. OG text should be captured in a summary field when available.
Text from the original post in 2016
Thanks to a mandatory 30-day furlough from work, I have been afforded a great opportunity to take a western US road trip vacation. The idea originated after learning my Dad was awarded an elk hunting tag for New Mexico Unit 34 and the season fell during the same month period. Since I have 3 weeks of free time before the hunt, and may likely never have 30 consecutive days off again, it was clear that I wasn't staying home on the couch. Its time for an adventure! My main goal is to see as much wilderness west of the Mississippi as I possibly can, or as weather allows. Saturday 9/24 I will drive west from Kenosha, WI with the goal of stopping in Sioux Falls, SD for the night (about 8 hours driving). Sunday 9/25, I will leave Sioux Falls and head 4 hours west to the Badlands National Park and camp until I get an itch to go farther. Weather will be a major factor as snow in the mountains is common starting in fall. Right now it looks like Yellowstone and Grand Teton are off my list, but this opens the door to spend more time farther south. I may very well spend more time around the Grand Canyon where it's warmer before heading to New Mexico. Fittingly, September 24th is National Public Lands Day which exists to encourage outdoor enjoyment, conservation, and volunteering. To find an event near you, click here. This year is also the National Parks Service Centennial celebrating 100 years of conservation of our country's natural wonders. Get outside and enjoy it, or help with your local parks! Time for me to hit the road, stay tuned for updates! Don't forget the link in the top right of the page where you can follow my posts on a Google map!
Lat = 42.5677147 , Long = -87.9493332 -- Show at Google Maps